More outside cats than ever now that the Animal Shelter will no longer take in strays and strays come here in droves. I don't like the idea of outside cats because I used to love feeding birds. No longer.....

Someone swerved their car and killed my only possum. Broke my heart. They may be ugly, but they sure clean the place up every night. Now I have to go around and clean up the half eaten mice myself and with the amount of flies around, know I am not getting them all. Crows get the ones out by the road, but cats take a lot of territory as their 'dinner table'.

Oh, and I have a groundhog in the basement now too. He dug his way in, (can get out, he is not stuck there), but he is trying to take the basement wall apart so I am not too fond of his actions. Have to go down every day and shoo him away from my walls.

I will be waiting for those new pictures of your bats. Those last ones were beauties!

I hope I can get those new bat photos.....the Soccer WorldCup is on. Half the country is "on the ball". Remember I live in Germany, where the WorldCup is being held. It starts TODAY !! And I'm a soccer fan.

I'm also a big bat fan and if my cat doesn't stop going up on the roof to take swipes at them, I just don't know what to do but maybe ground her.

We have so many birds this year! AND squirrels! I'm replacing all of the regular old bird feeders with the green ones that are (at last) squirrel proof, as I can afford to...they're pretty expensive but when I think of all the bird food that has been scattered on the ground thanks to the fat squirrels' breaking the feeders, I figure I'll save money in the long run, AND have even more birds. We put up a Martin house this year, but no tenants arrived. I think we got it up too late.

The squirrels get ears of dried corn, put out on special holders, but they're greedy and growing too fat. I call them my Neocon Politician Squirrels. I may put them on rations...one ear a week!

The little cat whose story started this thread is still with us. We named him Mozzy, and he's a great personality. We love him dearly. He's very healthy, too, as the vet ascertained on Friday.

Catherine

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

I envy you. Can't feed birds anymore--not with all the strays here now. I used to love feeding them winter and summer.

There are mulberry trees out back that attrack birds for most of the summer anyway. I try to keep the lower branches cleared of berrys to keep the birds up away from those darn cats but it is amazing how high a cat can jump. (They are darn cats when they catch birds...)

Martin houses sometimes have to be in place for a couple of years before they are used by the martins. Even birds have their quirks.

I haven't had any trouble with strays so far this year...(knock on wood.)

Most of the people in my immediate neighborhood keep their cats close to home if they have any. I've had to shoo some dogs off the hill recently, but they usually run the moment I open the door. My cats have caught a few of the birds, never eating them, but instead leaving them as a "gift," usually on the mat outside the back door. But for the most part, they just lie on one of the decks and watch the birds. They're very lazy, and if I see either of the four stalking a bird, I give him a good scolding and take him inside, which none of them prefer now that the weather is so warm.

I have a few mocking birds and blue jays that give the cats a really hard time! Those birds will attack the cats, "dive-bombing" them when given the least opportunity. It's very funny to watch. The cats will hunker down and then slink to the first place they can find to hide.

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with stray cats, dori. Can you call your humane society?

Catherine

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

The Animal Shelter here is run by Hagar the Horrible. She hates cats and wants only dogs brought to the shelter. She went up one side of me and down the other when I tried to get her to take a cat this year.

Strange because the only ones I have taken over are kittens, sweet, cuddly kittens. The strays now are adult cats used to living on their own and not happy about having other cats around.

I feed the strays about 10 to 20 feet away from my own cats so everyone gets to eat. Never thought to put cooking oil in their food--will see if that helps. I have some butter left over from when I used it to feed woodpeckers, I will start with that. Fat, lazy cats sound really good to me!

Thanks for the advice. I would love to worry less about that mix out there.

I dont know if it will kill them though. I imagine its not healthy. But makes sense. Fat lazy cats are funny though. Reminds me of Garfield. The strays around my house always bring me the moles and mice. Hey I reward for good work! I just wish they would eat them. Nope they use them as toys.

_________________"All men are created equal until you become a liberal" - Rush Limbaugh

I dont know if it will kill them though. I imagine its not healthy. But makes sense. Fat lazy cats are funny though. Reminds me of Garfield. The strays around my house always bring me the moles and mice. Hey I reward for good work! I just wish they would eat them. Nope they use them as toys.

I have a cat who takes care of the mice and the chipmonks in our neighborhood. He brings them to the back door as a gift, but since I won't accept his largess, he always eats them. Unfortunately, he leaves the intestines there for me to clean up.